Ramen Noodle Soup
by chiishio
Summary: Oneshot. Sakura is sent home for a simple flu bug, and who other than Naruto would offer to make sure she gets better. NaruSaku.


One-shot from a prompt I got. 'It's Basic' is still in the works, I'm just kinda in a block right now with it. I don't usually write long stuff like that, so hopefully this will help a little for those of you waiting for the next chapter. s2

--

"You don't have to do this."

"It's okay, Sakura-chan. I just want to make sure you get better."

"I'm fine," Haruno Sakura snaps, voice tight, at her caretaker for the day. She's completely disbelieving that she -a medical ninja for kage's sake, _and _Tsunade's star pupil- could get sick. Sakura was in the hospital most of the time healing people, or in the library reading about it, didn't that amount to some sort of immunity to something as simple as catching a flu bug? She was told to stay in bed and get plenty of rest by Tsunade herself. It wasn't like she could, or wanted to really, fight the will of the Godaime.

And that was all fine, but what she couldn't stand was the fact that her obnoxious teammate, Naruto of all people, was the one designated to make sure she remained in bed (or in her case, Naruto's couch) and was taken care of. The blond had forced her onto the worn piece of furniture, something she did not take lightly. Sick or not, he had received a rough smack on the back of the head before he wandered off, grumbling and rubbing the sore spot.

She was more annoyed that Naruto was seeing her when she's vulnerable, though he had good intentions.

As of now, he was in the kitchen making her some soup. Her expression was weary and she made sure she was alert for the sound of the fire alarm going off, or sounds of dishes crashing. He had volunteered himself to be the one to make sure she didn't do anything today. He was also the only one that wasn't busy today with missions, and seemed to have the immunity she wished she had.

Lucky her.

While she appreciated his concern, she knew she could take care of herself. It was just the flu, it wasn't like she was dying of some horrible disease and on her deathbed with the inability to move. She rests her back against the arm of the couch and tugs the blanket he had found in his room around her, patting down some spots and trying to get comfortable even though she was shivering and hot at the same time.

Stupid bug.

The floor creaks, and Naruto's sheepish face peeks into the room before he shuffles inside. A delicate brow raises in his direction and he clears his throat and steps a bit closer, slowly sitting down where her feet were and almost silently asking if that was okay. Sakura does nothing so he takes that as a good sign and relaxes.

When Naruto says nothing after a few moments, Sakura sighs in slight irritation.

"Where's the soup?"

"Huh? Soup?" he blinks, and Sakura sends him a blank look. "Oh yeah! Well, it's almost done." He looks awfully embarrassed for just cooking some soup, and the rosette grows even more suspicious. "I won't burn it, I've cooked loads of times!"

"Pouring some hot water on a cup of ramen doesn't count, Naruto," Sakura responds dryly, trying to keep from rolling her eyes. Naruto grumbles something under his breath, but she ignores it. "Well, while that's _cooking_, could you get me a cool rag? My face feels like it's going to melt off."

"Sure thing, Sakura-chan," he grins and salutes, shifting off the couch and disappearing again, glad to have a job.

There was one thing she had to admit, it was kind of nice having someone willing to do what she asked. The couch wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it fit the contours of her body easily because it had been used to much and sunk down with her weight. The blanket was thick, soft -not to mention ohkages _orange_- and covered her entire body, and a few pillows to keep her propped up weren't too bad either. They were big and full of feathers.

So despite having Naruto seeing her in this state, being told to do nothing for the whole day (Sakura hated being useless, she thought she left that behind her), and feeling miserable with her sickness-- it wasn't so bad. There's a small yelp from down the hall and she turns her head in a bit of surprise to where it came from. Naruto walks out of a room, cursing under his breath and dripping from his face and his shirt wet.

She takes the rag from him once he hands it over and watches as he tries to wring out his shirt. He sits on the small table in front of the couch carefully and then sighs. Sakura can't hold back her curiosity anymore. "Naruto...how did..?"

"Goddamn sink. Gotta fix it."

Well, at least he hadn't used the shower to get the rag wet like she thought he did. Though that would make a bit more sense about how he got doused with water. How in the world did he manage to get more water on himself than the actual rag? She presses the wet cloth to her forehead and sighs at the relief, the cool water feeling amazing on her burning skin.

"Need anything else, Sakura-chan?"

The ends of his hair are dripping in front of his face and it bothers her for some reason. "Could you get me a towel?" No questions asked, he nods and moves back to the bathroom, snatching a towel from the counter and then moving back beside Sakura, handing over the fluffy cloth. "Come here," she waves him closer, and he looks at her in confusion and his expression a little guarded before shifting closer. He looks nervous and slowly pinches his eyes shut, as if expecting some pain.

Sakura's expression softens before she grips the towel a bit more tightly. The couch squeaks as she sits up a little more and sets the wet rag on her lap. Naruto's eyes are still screwed shut when a towel presses to his cheek and wipes some water off. Blue eyes fly open in surprise, and look at green -more focused on her actions- in shock.

"Sakura...chan...?"

"You're dripping all over the house," she explains quickly, and then starts wiping at the other side of his face. Naruto watches with something akin to amazement, not believing that she was touching him like this willingly. He starts enjoying the soft touch of the towel and her hand and closes his eyes, leaning into it and sighing. He knew he was supposed to be taking care of Sakura, not the other way around, but who was he to stop her from more or less petting him?

It ends too soon, and a loud whistle of a kettle signals the soup is done. "I-I'll be right back, Sakura-chan," the towel is pushed away gently and he stumbles to the kitchen, wondering what made Sakura, the one who sometimes couldn't stand him, do that. He scratches a cheek before searching the cabinets for a bowl to use and then glances at the kitchen sink.

Full of dirty bowls.

"Damn," he curses, pulling the kettle off the stove and very nearly burning his hand. He hisses and blows on the red skin, wondering where all this rotten luck had come from. First he didn't have any chicken noodle soup, the second one of the knobs broke on his sink and sprayed water everywhere, and third he had burnt his hand on the metal handle. Though the last one he could admit was kindasorta his fault.

Still, stupid luck.

Sakura still wanted something to eat, and he had promised that old lady he would make sure she had everything she needed. So far he was doing a pretty decent job, if he thought so himself. With just a few problems, nothing too bad had happened. He even got something kind of nice out of Sakura, non-accidental touch. Or touch that involved healing or some other essential purpose. She didn't _have_ to dry off the water from his face, but she did.

And if all of the bad things that had happened to him so far was what he needed to get that almost affectionate touch-- it was totally worth it.

Sakura listens to Naruto shuffle around, and curse, in the kitchen as she gently folds and sets the towel on the table. What could he be doing in there? She sighs and leans against the arm of the couch again, picking up her wet cloth and pressing it to her forehead as she strains to hear what exactly is going on.

A few minutes later, Naruto comes back into the room, smiling and his cheeks flushed, holding a cup of something steaming. "Naruto," Sakura starts, sounding a bit exasperated once she recognizes the smell. "This isn't-"

"I know you said chicken noodle soup, Sakura-chan," he finishes before she can and that sheepish look is painted on his face again. "But I didn't have soup and well...it has noodles!"

He gently hands it off to her, and she takes it. The broth is warm and he was right; there were definitely noodles in there. It's so predictable that all he had in this house was ramen and she almost pushes it away to tell him to forget about it until she looks up at his face. His hair is still dripping with water from getting her the wet rag, there's a cloth around his hand, no doubt from burning it on something. He was such a clumsy idiot. But she's more drawn to the brightness of his eyes, the inner pride and anticipation at seeing her happiness that lay within them.

A soft smile lifts her cheeks, realizing that if he wanted to, he really could have just left her to fend for herself. "Do you have chopsticks?" But he had chosen to waste his day, waiting on her hand and foot for whatever she needed.

And it was just a silly flu bug.

"Ah, I'll go get them," he scrambles away and then reappears again quickly so she could eat her 'ramen noodle soup.'

"Thank you, Naruto."

"Anything for you, Sakura-chan."


End file.
